Posted by KimberlyDi on July 29, 2003, at 14:41:24
In reply to Re: could efexor xr increase alcohol cravings?, posted by featherchickie on July 27, 2003, at 3:46:11
Hey sweetie,
Effexor, for me, doesn't increase alcohol cravings. In fact, Effexor decreases the anxiety that triggered my cravings. Of course, I'm a full-fledged card-carrying alcoholic, been there, done that, didn't buy the t-shirt BUT wasted my life from age 18-33 because of alcohol.facts,
1) people die mixing meds with alcohol. it's common.
2) alcohol is a depressant and counter-affects what an anti-depressant can do. Makes that Effexor worthless, and the others ones worse than worthless.
3) your youth is going to count against you. at best, you may waste the best part of your life, like I did, before you finally make your health a priority. Worst case, you'll be like Abilena, a beautiful troubled young teen I went to treatment with. She was kicked out because she kept drinking, and taking illegal drugs. I was devastated to see her obituary less than a month later. I had a bad case of survivors guilt with her.I don't believe Effexor increases alcohol cravings. If your first attempts with drinking resulted in this being such an issue with you, not wanting to give it up, then you very well could be an alcoholic. I remember my first drink, took to it like a fish to water, always thought of how to get my next one. Even when my body was dying.
Be smart. Be good to yourself.
Best wishes,
KDi in Texas
> i know that this is a very old thread but i came across it to find out why my dr keeps telling me not to consume alcohol while on effexor xr. ive been on effexor xr for 2.5 months and i was brought up to 225mg within the first month (which, by reading the responses in this thread, must be quite fast). i was put on effexor xr for the depression that I've had ever since i was 6, with a first suicide attempt at 9. i was also put on effexor xr for gad but i found that eff increased my anxiety to the point where i would have panic attacks which i've never had before. now to take care of the panic attacks, i've been put on gabitril. i've only been on gabitril for 1.5 weeks and i'm at 8mg (4mg morning and 4mg evening). I'm also on Revia which was prescribed to me so that i wouldn't cut myself or have the urges to do so. i would've been on it for close to two months now if i didnt stop taking it--i thought that i didnt need it anymore when i stopped having the urges to cut myself. then when i started cutting myself, it wasnt until the third location that i said anything about it mainly because it was my most severe self mutilation. no it wasn't a suicide attempt and i dont think it was an attention thing either because i get embarrassed when people ask how it happened. i think i was just trying to punish myself for not being good enough. --also like several others who have written here, im finding less motivation to do anything, especially during my week of drunkeness. see, my first time drinking was this june and i got drunk on the first night but that was after 2 beers and 9 shots of different drinks (vodka, whiskey, tequila). im not sure if the eff made my tolerance higher or if the fact that alcoholism runs in my family has anything to do with the high tolerance. anyways, i loved the way i was feeling when i was drunk. i wasn't so smashed that i got sick or forgot what happened--it was a really great buzz. after that, it seemed like all i wanted to do was get drunk again like i had that first night. so in a 5 day period, i drank 4 of those nights. the last of which i got completely wasted. i had 4 shots of tequila before going to a party. when i got there, i had 2 shots of 100proof southern comfort and then 2 beers following that. by that point, i was pretty well off smashed. when i attempted to get back inside the house from the backyard, i just started puking my guts out. next think i know, i'm inside leaned up against a wall and i hear a guy saying "well she's getting more color in her face now, i think she'll be fine" --that freaked me out that i was so drunk that i dont remember what happened from being outside to being inside and the whole color of my face as well. even after that though, the next week a friend mentioned going out to get drunk and i was all gung ho about it. i said "i would never pass up a chance to get drunk" so we went out to a friend's place and i only had 4 shots before one of my friends started freaking out and demanded to go home. i was so mad at the time. i was just then beginning to get a buzz after the 4th shot and all i could think about on the ride home is how i could've had more to drink and how i could've gotten drunk again. (see i'm 18 so i can't just go out and buy alcohol whenever i want). unfortunately, she wasn't the only friend of mine who had a problem with my drinking habits, how within 2 weeks i had turned into nearly an alcoholic from a person who was scared to even try alcohol for the fear of exactly what happened--enjoying it waaaay too much and wanting to get drunk any time i could. i dont know if thats the eff or my genetic alcoholism or possibly both. since then, i haven't had nearly as much alcohol... in fact only two drinks since june 25th, one on the 2 year birthday of the improv company i work for and one just this last week when a waitress was dumb enough to give me a shiner without asking for my ID. the former we each had a small glass of champagne. after that small glass i could feel myself getting rather tipsy... and only after one glass! with the shiner, however, i couldn't feel any effects of the alcohol.
> i know that i wrote a lot on a thread that hasn't been active for a month, but even if nobody reads this, it feels good to tell my story and reflect upon what has happened in hopes that when someone does read my story, that maybe they will learn something from what has happened to me.
> as for the overall effectiveness of the eff, i can't really say whether or not its been good for me. this is my first AD and i've only been on it for two and a half months. within those months i have had the best of times as well as the worst of times leading me to cut a chunk out of my wrist one week ago today... i would like to say that it has been a miracle to me but as of now, its really hard to tell. maybe my psychiatrist will up my dosage yet again. i know that i have to up my dosage during PMS week because otherwise i get completely bitchy and depressed. if anyone has any comments, i would love to hear them--myself being rather new to this whole AD thing and within these two and a half months, being put on 3 different medications--it kind of freaks me out into wondering "how many drugs must i take before i can be sane? before i can become who i used to be? how can i tell when i'm 'who i used to be' when i've been depressed since i was 6? will this even work or am i hopeless?" however, having coped with depression and gad almost my entire life, having attempted suicide 3 times, having tried everything from eating disorders to self mutilation to overdosing on over-the-counter drugs, i dont think i will stop at anything until i'm cured.. no matter how many drugs it takes to make me sane, no matter how many drugs it takes to prevent me from hurting myself, to give me motivation, to have me actually believing that there is something worth living for and that something being life itself--i wont quit until i'm well. i hate being depressed, i hate crying for no reason, i hate feeling alone, i hate feeling like i have no self worth, i hate not being motivated, i hate feeling as though i have nothing to live for---i hate it all. being depressed sucks and i've lived my entire life this way... i think its about time that i should enjoy life every day, every week, every month, every year. (with the exception of the common downs in life that everyone deals with)
> all right, now that i have psycho babbled enough (and i know that i have done my fair share of babbling and from reading this, you can plainly see that i'm psycho because i'm obviously not completely sane) i think it's time for me to go to bed. wow, almost 4am--amazing. i took a 4 hour nap this afternoon though after working from 8-12m (my job can be very exhausting)
> so until i hear back from anyone, ciao
poster:KimberlyDi
thread:133176
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030728/msgs/246501.html